A cyclist on Connecticut Avenue (DDOT photo)
It’s been nearly 18 months since DDOT’s most recent public presentation about the Connecticut Avenue Multimodal Safety Improvement Project. At a January 2023 ANC 3C committee meeting DDOT hinted at new concept designs that we may never see.
The reason: On April 11th of this year, DDOT’s acting director announced that the safety project would proceed without bike lanes.
Now, DDOT has another new concept to present to the community, and it will do so at a virtual meeting on Monday, June 3rd at 6:30 p.m.
We’ll be able to connect via WebEx or phone. The meeting announcement has all the information you should need.
The Soapstone sewer project enters the home stretch
The relining of the century-old sewer running through the Soapstone Valley is nearly complete. The last remaining section of unlined pipe is a 350-foot segment that starts behind Park Van Ness, runs parallel to Connecticut Avenue, and ends at Albemarle Street. While the work is under way, DC Water will, at times, close Albemarle to vehicle traffic.
At ANC 3F’s special meeting on Tuesday, June 4th, DC Water will go over its plan to reline the final sewer line segment, and discuss its traffic control plan. The commissioners will also vote on a resolution concerning this phase of the project.
The Zoom meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Here’s the link: bit.ly/anc3fmeet
And here’s a draft of the resolution:
Resolution Regarding DC Water Main and Trunk Sewer Lines Relining Project in Soapstone Valley: Modification of Manhole at Albemarle Ave and 32nd Street to Conduct CIPP Operations for Sewer Line between the Intersection and A Manhole Located Behind Park Van Ness Apartment Building
Whereas DC Water has been performing operations relining the main and connecting trunk sewer lines within the Soapstone Valley since March 2022,
Whereas DC Water has completed all relining work except for a 300-foot section of sewer pipe from a manhole at the intersection of Albemarle and 32nd Street, NW to a manhole located behind the Park Van Ness apartment building,
Whereas DC Water will be using the UV curing method for this relining work,
Whereas DC Water will have to enlarge the existing manhole to complete this relining
work,
Whereas this work will require the closure of Albemarle Ave from Connecticut Ave and to a point east of the intersection for an extent amount of time to enlarge the manhole diameter, conduct the relining operation, and bring the surface aspects of the current manhole back to its current appearance,
Whereas these closures may be temporary (daily) or longer-term (weeks),
Whereas this work will force the detour of traffic near the intersection, have considerable noise and possible air quality impacts on the community, and disrupt traffic flow in the Forest Hills community;
Whereas DDOT has directed DC Water to brief Councilmember Frumin’s office and the ANC 3F, and the community concerning this work and to seek concurrence from these two entities,
Be it resolved that ANC 3F concurs with the plans presented by DC Water and recommends DDOT approval of these operations, with the following stipulations that DDOT must incorporate into the permit and which must be signed by DC Water management:
1. An onsite DC Water staff will oversee all operations.
2. Notification of these operations will extend to the Avalon apartment building, Park Van Ness apartment building, the Montessori school, restaurants, other commercial establishments, and offices in the commercial building located on the southeast corner block of Albemarle and Connecticut Ave, NW. Notifications will be 14-day, 7-day and 24-hour notices including formal letters and door hangers, as appropriate. Notification will also be done through the Forest Hills Connection.
3. Air quality monitoring will be conducted similar to that conducted for prior relining operations for the Soapstone Project.
4. A schedule will be submitted to the community at least 14 days before operations commence and updated on a daily basis to reflect changing conditions, posted on the Soapstone web page on the DC Water web site.
5. A Traffic Control Plan will be included in the permit application submitted by DC Water to DDOT and will be distributed as part of the notification process. Access to the parking area behind the commercial stores on the eastern side of Connecticut Ave and south of Albemarle Ave by suppliers, owners, staffs, and other deliveries, as well as garbage collection services will be maintained. The
Traffic Control Plan be submitted to the ANC for a short review, as it is filed with DDOT. The permit application submitted to DDOT by DC Water will also submitted to the ANC.
6. Status of the project will be updated daily on the DC Water Soapstone Project web page.
7. Hours of operations will be included in the notification process and will be strictly adhered to by DC Water contractors. 24-hour per day operations will occur for a continuous period of two weeks when the existing manhole is dissembled, thus nighttime operations are permitted and notice will be given the community.
8. Access to Albemarle from the parking lot located behind the commercial building referenced in Note 2, above, will not be impaired for intermittent use.
Be it resolved, by a vote of ___ yeas and ___ nays of the ANC 3F at a special meeting on June 4, 2024, that ANC 3F approves this resolution.
Signature/date of ANC 3F Chair
Signature/date of DC Water representative
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tom sherwood says
Anyone know why this important Conn Ave public hearing is being held on June 4 from 6:30 to 8 pm when this Tuesday is the city’s Primary Election Day with the polls remaining open until 8 pm. Many residents will be out voting, working the polls for their candidates, or even working polling sites..
Green Eyeshades says
If this comment was posted by the real “Tom Sherwood,” he would have noticed that the main blogpost announced that the meeting about Connecticut Avenue will be held on MONDAY, June third, not June fourth.
The main blogpost says this:
“… On April 11th of this year, DDOT’s acting director announced that the safety project would proceed without bike lanes.
“Now, DDOT has another new concept to present to the community, and it will do so at a virtual meeting on Monday, June 3rd at 6:30 p.m.”
Marchesa says
The hole will be 16 feet across. Albemarle St between Connecticut and 32nd will be closed for two months. For the first two weeks, construction may happen all day and night. This will create major disruptions for people, traffic, and businesses.
Green Eyeshades says
DDOT posted a YouTube video of last night’s virtual meeting about the Connecticut Avenue multimodal safety project:
Green Eyeshades says
On that YouTube link, the right column shows a very rough transcript of that video, which you may need because of poor audio.
DDOT’s acting director announced at minute 5:40 that DDOT would be doing a new “five-year strategic Bikeway plan.”
During her introduction, the DDOT acting director referred to that plan interchangeably as a “plan” and as a “study,” then she announced what may be an additional five year delay!
At minute 6:13, DDOT’s acting director announced what she called “a transparent five year bike infrastructure construction work plan.” See minute 6:13.
The YouTube video does not start showing street views with proposed safety improvements until minute 13.
The schematics for the “Updated Concept” of the entire roadway finally begin at time stamp 16:53. At that time stamp, all 60 feet of the roadway is occupied by cars, three lanes in each direction.
At time stamp 16:18, the slide shows a “Typical Section – Block with Parking, Both Sides.” Again, only cars.
Addition of curb extensions on both sides and a bus stop on one side of that “Block with Parking” is at 18:49.
At 19:31, the video shows four-foot curb extensions on both sides with narrower traffic lanes, plus the left turn lane, from driver’s eyeview. That view reveals that what could have been bike lanes has been turned into curb extensions to protect pedestrians, at least at intersections with dedicated left turn lanes.
At 19:50, overhead view of intersection with dedicated left turn lane, pedestrian island on one side of intersection, bus stop on other side of intersection.
How many intersections will have dedicated left turn lanes? Stay tuned.
“Strategic Bikeway Plan” starts at time stamp 21:48.
Green Eyeshades says
At time stamp 25:30, Ward 3 Councilmember (CM) Matt Frumin prefaced his questions by saying he would not “opine” about the “merits or demerits” of DDOT’s proposals.
Then, under questioning from CM Frumin from roughly 25:50 through 37:30, DDOT’s staff person forecasted that the final design for safety improvements on Connecticut Avenue could be finished in the fall of 2025 (beginning of FY 2026), procurement could begin by June 2026, then construction of the safety improvements (without bike lanes) would begin at the end of calendar year 2026.
I interpreted that portion of the Q&A as DDOT’s admission that actual construction of whatever is designed for Connecticut Avenue won’t even begin until the first quarter or second quarter of FY 2027 (Oct-Dec 2026 or Jan-Mar 2027).
After he finished his Q&A with DDOT’s staff person, CM Frumin made what he called an “observation” that he had made in several letters to the Mayor. Frumin’s observation is “this plan is the same as Concept C” because even without bike lanes DDOT’s new plan puts Connecticut Avenue on a “road diet” that reduces traffic to two lanes in each direction. Watch time stamp 36:00 through 36:18.
DDOT’s staff person agreed with Frumin’s “observation.”
As I understand the Councilmember’s observation and DDOT’s agreement, they recognize that during non-rush hours, with parking lanes on both sides of the Avenue, with dedicated left-hand turn lanes interspersed at many (a dozen?) intersections, and with four-foot curb extensions into the parking lane on both sides of the Avenue, the “new” plan from DDOT is the same as Concept C as far as drivers of motor vehicles are concerned. The new plan from DDOT will still slow down and/or reduce traffic going into downtown, even without bike lanes.
Green Eyeshades says
There will be sixteen (16) intersections with dedicated left-turn lanes, according to the slide shown on the YouTube video at time stamp 13:20. But it is much more convenient to have your own set of slides.
While clicking through DDOT’s website, I stumbled on this new page for the June 3, 2024 meeting:
https://connave-multimodal.ddot.dc.gov/
The blue rectangle at the top of that links leads to this, which embeds the YouTube video into a DDOT web page, and adds a very useful link to the SLIDES presented at last night’s meeting:
https://connave-multimodal.ddot.dc.gov/pages/public-meetings/#no3
The slides for that meeting are actually posted in the cloud on an app called “Box” which I was not familiar with but which provides this direct link to the slides and allows downloading of your own copy:
https://app.box.com/s/j8cyyrahgaxgad5itzidthdaxrgcjh4a
There are 28 slides which fill less than four megabytes.
Slide eleven confirms that DDOT’s updated concept includes “16 dedicated left turn pockets proposed to improve safety and traffic flow.” So there are 16 intersections where curb extensions (bump-outs) close off the parking lanes and traffic is narrowed to only four lanes during non-peak hours.
Slide 12 shows the seven (7) automated traffic enforcement (ATE) cameras currently in place on the Avenue, three speed cameras and four red light cameras.
Slide 14 is the cover sheet for the “Updated Concept.”
Slide 15 shows the “Existing Cross-Section” which is “2 travel lanes off-peak with parking, and 3 travel lanes during peak without parking.”
Slide 16 is the proposed cross-section for a “block with parking, both sides,” with only four (4) lanes of through traffic.
Slide 17 is the proposed plan for “Typical Block with Parking, Both Sides” showing curb extensions with & without bus stop, with only four (4) lanes of through traffic.
Slide 18 is the proposed “Typical Section – Intersection with Left Turn Lane” showing only four (4) lanes of through traffic.
Slide 19 is the overhead view of a proposed “Typical Intersection with Left Turn Lane,” again showing only four (4) lanes of through traffic plus a pedestrian island in the middle of the Avenue on the side of the intersection without the turn lane.
Slides 23 and 24 are supposedly the “Strategic Bikeway Plan,” but there are no streetscapes, no views of intersections, no map of anything, no description of traffic patterns, no description of need for bikeway.
Slide 23 says “The goals of the Strategic Bikeways Plan” include “Develop transparent five-year bicycle work plan.” So the “work plan” is included in the “strategic” plan?
Slide 23 says nothing about when DDOT will finish either the “strategic” plan or the “work plan.”
Slide 24 says DDOT will work separately on “Connecticut Avenue” and “Bikeways Plan.”
Slide 24 then says “Develop and publish updated timeline” for the Avenue but does not say when!
Slide 24 also says, under “Bikeways Plan,” “Next month – launch updated bike website” then “Finalize engagement plan” then “Share project timeline in the fall” but does not give any dates!